december daily 2016

Hello, how is it possibly nearly December?!? I’ve pulled some of my favorite holiday things for this year’s december daily. I HAVE NO IDEA how I dropped the ball last year and only managed to get barely anything done. I think starting just a few days early helps, so I’m ready for 2016 now! Here are a few things I will be using in this year’s 5×7 notebook.

One of the hardest parts I find about December Daily is keeping up with the photo portion of DAILY. I have a sub par printer that doesn’t print photos very well. Paper and graphics, just fine.. but photos, ehehhhhehhehe. I need to either get a better system or let go of the needing to be caught up with the photo part and just go with journaling and cute embellishments. SO this year will be interesting.. we shall see how it all unfolds.

But it’s still November and I’m happy to get this far on it, so patting myself on the back for that! 🙂

November 28, 2016 1

Inspired Retreat Fall 2016

I met Amber Housley at CHA with Studio Calico last year and began following her journey online. I followed along as she hosted The Inspired Retreat and saw all the pretty pictures and read how many wonderful things people said about the retreat. I hadn’t been to a retreat since High School! Immediately, I thought, this wouldn’t be for me and I tucked it in the back of my mind. That was her spring retreat.

Fall retreat announcements started popping up and again, I made excuses why I shouldn’t go. It’s too expensive, I couldn’t leave the kids and Chris. It’s indulgent. You know, because I am not one to spend money like that on myself. I tried to put it in the back of my mind again, but it kept finding it’s way to my heart.

(photo by Kristy Hogan)Before I knew it, I booked my spot and found myself to this beautiful corner of the world. Tennessee.

As soon as I stepped foot on to the property (Evins Mill)  I knew it was going to be a special few days. Los Angeles slowly drained away from my body and I was in the south and completely immersed in southern hospitality. Not only was Amber herself completely available to the attendees, so were all the speakers. We were all in this together. Being tucked away at this venue made all the difference in the world. I wish we had something like this in LA that I could escape to.

We had received these little motivation cards from Lara Casey and I followed the advice. Being the introvert that I am, I took the leap and soaked in every minute. I attended each session, attended each delicious meal, every activity. Gave myself just a few 15 minute breaks to recharge on the hidden hammocks I found on the property to record some of my thoughts and feelings. Every meal was a special treat. I’m the chef in the family, so to have so many meals prepared for me was honestly such a treat. And I’m a sucker for good details so all the flowers and extra touches were noticed and appreciated. My first time having real southern BBQ, favorite of the whole trip. Just amazing!
  (photo by Kristy Hogan) I was so touched to meet so many genuine women who have a passion for the business and family. It’s always been my struggle to figure out that balance. I’ve been a stay at home mom for 21 years. Now that the kids are basically out the door, I feel like it’s the right time to make some changes. I was encouraged and inspired by these women who do it daily. (photo by Kristy Hogan)
This is when I k

new I definitely wasn’t in Los Angeles anymore. I mean, look at this stunning waterfall! I wish I could say I was brave enough to strip down and dive in, but I wasn’t. 🙂 One step at a time here for me! 🙂 (photo by Kristy Hogan) I am so excited to follow these women on their journeys and have their support as well. Thank you so much, Amber for bringing us together, for inspiring us, for spoiling us, for being you!   When I arrived back at home, it took me a good week to mentally unpack all that I learned. It wasn’t just the sessions and the advice and the steps that need to be taken. It was the stories. It was the lives that touched me. It’s the way I live now and how I want to live from here on out. My heart is so full and I will forever be grateful. Today, a month later, I still miss this perfect corner of the world. But as I face each day and each new challenge I remind myself:
I hear that Amber is announcing Spring dates shortly. I highly recommend The Inspired Retreat. I came for clarification, ideas and plans. I was fed in ways I didn’t know I needed. I am so grateful.

November 10, 2016 1

October

October at Kelly Purkey is full of goodness! We got our goodies a little late so I only have this to share for now but I will have more to come soon!
This FAVORITE THINGS set is going to get a lot of use! I used almost all the stamps just in this spread!
Chris and I went to NY this spring to celebrate my birthday. We came home to chaos and our lives have been somewhat crazy since that trip. So I like to just take a mental break every now and then and remember this sweet weekend and how life seemed somewhat normal then. I’ve had a ziploc full of memories for months waiting to be cut up and documented. SO glad I waited till now to get it done.

++Editing to add that this is the trip we came home to where Grampies was acting erratic and Chris took him to the doctor and we found out he had a brain tumor 😦 The next time we went to NY we came home to my mom getting a pace maker put in. Thank goodness Elsie ended up in NYC for college and we were able to have some other memories that were not health heavy related 😦

October 28, 2016 0

Studio Calico

These colors are so fun. I love it when Studio Calico pushes me out of my creative bounds. Magenta, yellow and navy?! Helllo!!! And fun patterns and touches of gold?! So in!! I had a busy few days before this was due.

Edited: This was a really cool airbnb in Seattle. The kids thought it was creepy but it was vintage. It ended up being in the perfect location. Across the street from the ER, which later in the trip we took Chris to. He had taken some Benadryl and was not feeling right so off we went. This was before Jake’s wedding and we were supposed to shoot her wedding. Wasn’t sure he was gonna be up for it but he did in the end. All was beautiful and well. Later, Bryan came and stayed with us at an airbnb in Portland. That was cute too.

October 1, 2016 0

September!

One sneak I made with her Around Town set- this is going to be soo useful for me as my husband and I are staycation masters! 🙂 I’m so behind on printing photos, I’ve got loads to order and this set will be golden. All happy things about a NYC trip we took in a passport size Midori Traveler’s Notebook.

September 22, 2016 0

paislee press august

Taken outside of Gracias Madre on the westside on your 21st birthday. Look how happy you are! You chose this spot not because you were vegan but because it looked so aesthetically cute and the drinks looked fun too. 🙂

This was in Washington when we were in town for Jake’s wedding. 🙂

Cam graduated SPHS. So proud of him. It wasn’t easy. Some bullshit. But he did it and we are so proud. Afterwards we went across the street to take pics with Grampies. He was already sick at this point and didn’t come to the graduation ;( . Look how little KK was.

August 23, 2016 1

Holidays

It’s the holidays already over at Kelly Purkey Shop!

Els was a witch in preschool. But the trick or treating pic was in elementary school. I clearly did not have my shit together.

This gifting set is so cute, so many cute details to go along with your gifts, my favorite being the personalization of the tag stamps! This one could be used all year long!

We went to the Highland Park lot and were amazed at how expensive it all was. And the trees were all different colors. So we went to Home depot 🙂

I realized how little pictures I actually take of my tree once it’s up. Going to get the tree seems to be my favorite photo opp. 🙂 🙂

Happy first day of school to my family today, nice to have these sweet holiday memories for me to look forward to since I’m already missing everyone and missing summer! This was one of my favorite photos of all 4 of the kids this summer. Heavenly!

August 18, 2016 0

July

Recent trip to Washington!

Love this market day. So busy and packed, would need to go back another time when it wasn’t so insane.

July 28, 2016 0

Motherhood during summer

Motherhood during summertime has always been a blessing and a curse. Long days without a schedule but then long days without a schedule- know what I mean? I’ve had 21 summers as a mother. Some better summers than others. Yesterday, 3 of the 4 kids asked me to go to Lacma– the museum that’s here in LA. I feel like I’m always asking them to go and they turn me down so you could imagine my giddiness when they suggested it!! Not only would we be doing something they wanted to do- Cam was going to drive us! (Nerve wrecking but amazing that I didn’t have to be the one driving on LA freeways!)

We did it right by hitting up the food trucks across the street for lunch before entering the museum- you know, avoiding meltdowns because we’re hangry. Which means more perusing later with full bellies.

We did the usual- walking, talking, admiring, lots of photos. But it wasn’t til we were driving home that it it hit me. About 12 years ago, I had only 3 kids and they were about 8, 5 and 3. I was on a kick to beat boredom during that summer with young children. I wanted to take them on adventures that didn’t cost a lot of money. So came the idea of visiting a new park each day in LA. We did this religiously for an entire summer. Some were hits, some were misses. But the overall memory stuck with us. And this tedious task for me, sitting at a park all day long- this is pre-iphone period, so usually reading a book/magazine, playing with the kids, refereeing stranger’s kids, all of that in the LA heat- hours upon hours of doing that… made my heart hurt. I longed for that time on the park. The time where my babies were just babies and the days and months of summer were long but so full. Yesterday was pretty amazing. Being able to still be together and going on an adventure. I honestly love this stage where my children are now, 21, 17, 15 and 10. I wish I could pause it and soak it up. I know now that the summers are long but fleeting. How time has changed… park sitting all day to me dropping the day’s to-do list to hang with them at the museum. Always the right choice.

July 27, 2016 1

Paislee Press

Edited++ One of the water holes in AZ. Looks murky but it was really refreshing. Can’t get over the backdrop to all these AZ photos. Unreal. Just so hot. Such special time with Nu. ❤

July 8, 2016 0